“The Common Man”, Joe Smith Jr., (23-1, 19 KO’s), boxing’s best story of 2016, will make his first start of the new year, defending his WBC International Light Heavyweight Title against world ranked Sullivan Barrera, (19-1, 14 KO’s) on Friday, July 15 from the iconic, Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles and live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark (9:50 p.m. ET/PT).
A Message to Artur Beterbiev from Team Sullivan Barrera:
Artur,
Yesterday, you decided to go to the internet and social media as you have tried to do in the past and paint your own picture of the IBF eliminator bout between yourself and Sullivan Barrera. Maybe your propaganda works in Russia and in Canada but not in the United States. The fact is this fight was doomed to fail from the beginning and you can only look to your fake promoter for reasons and excuses.
By Allan Fox: Earlier on Thursday, it was revealed by Artur Beterbiev’s promoter Yvon Michel that Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) hadn’t signed the contract for the fight and wasn’t going to take the fight. This was supposed to be an IBF light heavyweight eliminator match on April 21. The winner of the Beterbiev-Barrera fight would be the mandatory challenger to IBF champion Andre Ward.
By Dan Ambrose: Yvon Michel, the promoter for unbeaten light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev, says that his April 21st scheduled fight against Sullivan Barrera has been canceled. The 34-year-old Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) never signed the contract for the Beterbiev fight, which was supposed to have been an IBF light heavyweight eliminator bout.
By Allan Fox: #2 IBF Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) revealed earlier today the news that he’ll be facing #6 IBF Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) in an International Boxing Federation light heavyweight eliminator bout on April 21 in Miami, Florida.
The exact venue still isn’t known for the Beterbiev-Barrera fight at this time, but it’s expected to be announced soon. The winner of the fight will be the #1 IBF mandatory challenger to IBF 175lb champion Andre Ward.
By Allan Fox: Yvon Michel, the promoter for unbeaten #2 IBF light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs), has reportedly won a purse bid for his IBF eliminator fight against Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs). Michel won the purse bid on Thursday with a winning bid of 251,000, which isn’t a whole lot considering how talented the 31-year-old Beterbiev is. Barrera’s promoters at Main Events had the second highest bid at $181,000.
The split for the Beterbiev-Barrera fight will be 75/25, which means Beterbiev will be getting $188,250. Just how much Beterbiev will end up with after taxes and training expenses is the big question.
By Allan Fox: The International Boxing Federation has scheduled a purse bid for the #1 IBF light heavyweight position between #2 IBF Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) and #9 IBF Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) at the IBF’s headquarters on February 2. Beterbiev’s promoter Yvon Michel and Main Events, the promoter for Barrera, will be in attendance.
Beterbiev and Barrera will be fighting to decide who will be the mandatory challenger to IBF light heavyweight champion Andre Ward. Beterbiev, 31, has been knocking out everyone he’s faced since turning pro several years ago.
By Allan Fox: #9 IBF Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) has agreed to fight unbeaten #2 Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) in an IBF light heavyweight title eliminator. Barrera’s promoters at Main Event announced the news on Friday, along with Beterbiev. The winner of the Beterbiev vs. Barrera fight will be the mandatory challenger to IBF 175lb champion Andre Ward. Beterbiev has had problems getting one of the contenders in the IBF’s ratings to agree to fight him in the eliminator.
Beterbiev sent a tweet earlier today saying that Barrera wasn’t going to take the fight. He was then going to see if #10 IBF Oleksandr Gvozdyk would agree the fight. Beterbiev said he didn’t think he would agree to it. Beterbiev would have needed to keep working down the list if not for the 34-year-old Barrera agreeing to fight him.
By Allan Fox: Undefeated #2 IBF Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) is hoping that either #9 IBF Sullivan Barrera or Oleksandr Gvozdyk will agree to face him in an International Boxing Federation eliminator bout in his next fight to decide the #1 mandatory challenger to IBF light heavyweight champion Andre Ward.
Thus far, #4 Sean Monaghan and #5 Enrico Kölling has said to have chosen not to take the fight with Beterbiev. Beterbiev is counting on Sullivan Barrera agreeing to the fight. He recently picked up an impressive stoppage win over contender Vyacheslav Shabranskyy.
By Jeff Aranow: #4 WBA, #9 IBF, #12 WBC light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) is targeting a fight against former WBC 175lb champion Jean Pascal (31-4-1, 18 KOs) next, as he believes that a win over the 34-year-old Canadian will get him a shot at the winner of the Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev fight.
It’s interesting Barrera isn’t calling out unbeaten #2 IBF contender Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) for a fight, because that would be a fight that would make a lot more sense for Barrera to be taking if he wants a title shot against the Ward-Kovalev winner.